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Concussion awareness across Canada

Having your “bell rung” has become a hot topic in both media and medicine. The conventional belief that children will be fine after a head injury is now being challenged and taken much more seriously.

A concussion is a type of internal head injury that causes a temporary loss of normal brain function. One of the top causes of head injuries for children is sports and recreational activities. Of course, these activities also have innumerable benefits for children so avoiding them is not the answer. Instead, the solution is appropriate training, wearing protective equipment and being smart about the possible risks of any sport.

Thankfully, 80 per cent of concussions don’t result in long-lasting symptoms. If an injury does occur, the key to keeping your child safe is concussion management – stopping physical and mental activity and getting lots of rest.

Child Health BC is helping to make concussion awareness and management easier for parents. In partnership with BC Injury Research and Prevention Unit and with support from the Ministry of Health they have created a concussion awareness training toolkit (CATT) for British Columbians.

This great new web-based toolkit aims to standardize the recognition, diagnosis, treatment and management of concussions in children. The concussion toolkit has been available for parents since spring 2014.